


Infuriating

by ursl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Slytherin Reader, lily is a sweetie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:00:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27979986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ursl/pseuds/ursl
Summary: (Y/N) and Lily are best friends, and Lily just wants (Y/N) to get along with her other friends, which wouldn't be a problem if (Y/N) wasn't so blunt and Sirius wasn't such a baby.____Please don't be shy with your comments, I'm literally so desperate for attention that I put my daydreams out into the world
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 83





	1. Chapter 1

Lily Evans, described as a kind, smart witch was sitting in the dungeons waiting for Professor Slughorn to sort through his papers to be able to begin the lesson. It was her sixth year at Hogwarts, she was somewhat of a teache's pet, since she was always respectful, punctual and nice to everyone she met, so she was instated into the Slugclub very quickly. Slughorn often announced that she was one of his all time favourite students, but it was her first potions class of the semester, which meant that she would be in the same class with people she's never shared classes before.

Then, as if on cue, the door flew open with a bang and in ran a Slytherin girl shouting, "Professor, I'm so sorry I'm late, but there was a problem at Care for Magical creatures and-" she was cut off by Slughorn who raised his hand with a chuckle and a reassuring 'not to worry, my dear, you're just in time.' Lily had seen around Hogwarts before, but they never shared any classes so she didn't really know her name, and because she was the last student to enter the class, she didn't have many choices to choose where to sit, or more precisely she had one choice: next to Lily. She shuffled to the front row, where Lily was sitting and gently nudged the red-head with her elbow, "Uh, would you mind if I sat here with you, everywhere else is full?"

Lily quickly removed her bag from the chair next to her with a smile, "I don't mind at all," she extended her hand I'm Lily by the way."

"(Y/N)," the newcomer politely shook hands with Lily, then proceeded to hastily retrieve her things from her deceptively small bag.

"Alright, students," Slughorn began the lesson, "welcome to Advanced potions," he said excitedly, "everyone here has, in the past five years, shown a considerable amount of talent for potion making, so I don't think these lessons will be anything for you to worry about." He then explained that they were going to be pared with their neighbour. The two girls looked at each other and smiled. "Today we are going to be brewing, or at least attempt to brew, Elixir to induce euphoria, and as a little extra incentive," he pulled out two tiny vials of clear liquid, "the winners will be presented with this," he held them up enticingly, "Liquid Luck is what it's called, and it's just that, drink this and you'll find all your endeavours succeed." Then he quickly scribbled the name and the page number on the board behind him. "Now, open your books and begin, I will, of course, be making sure nothing goes wrong."

The two girls opened their books and swiftly began chopping and preparing the needed ingredients, and almost inaudibly whispered their instructions and advices to each other. Their whispers came to a stop when Professor Slughorn stood at their desk, looking down at their ingredients with an enthusiastic grin.

"Ah, my two best students paired together, what are the odds?" He snickered, "You two are a force to be reckoned with, my dears," he speedily examined the contents of their soon-to-be potion and proudly nodded. "By the looks of it, your potion is going to be perfect, it's already getting me excited!" He gave the pair an encouraging smile and left to help some poor saps who have succeeded to glue the cauldron to the ceiling somehow.

"Did he say we were his best students?" Lily asked, to which (Y/N) nodded, still hyper-focused on making the perfect potion, "Then why haven't we ever met? I'm sure you're in the Slugclub if you're one of his best," she continued, stirring the potion as was written in the book.

"Yeah, I got in, but I never had time to attend," (Y/N) shrugged, "I still think I'm one of his favourites though," she smirked, "always make sure to stop by once a week to discuss some new up-and-coming potion-making techniques, he seems to enjoy our little chats," her hands making quick work of the porcupine quills and crushing them into a fine powder, "but to be honest, I enjoy them too, he's very knowledgable and kind, and he's a Slytherin."

Lily's eyes widened for a second, of course she had known which house Slughorn belonged to, but it surprised her, because she had completely forgotten that the girl sitting beside her, working expertly on their potion to ensure their win, was also a Slytherin. She wasn't used to civilised conversations with the Slytherins, considering she was muggle-born. Even Severus, her first friend saw her as something less because of it, but she thought of testing the waters with her potions partner, so they would deal with it now and not have a big outburst later in the lesson. "I'm a muggle-born, by the way," Lily said plainly, awaiting a big reaction, but the Slytherin girl only looked in her eyes confusedly.

"So?" She asked, now crushing the beans needed to complete the potion. "I'm pure-blood, but you don't see me bragging about it, do you?" she asked the red-haired girl. They sat and silently worked on the potion, but the silence was soon broken by (Y/N).

"Not all Slytherins are awful, you know," she said with a tired sigh, as if she's had this conversation before, and Lily wouldn't be surprised if she had. "I wasn't put there because I'm supposedly evil, but because of my traits." She sent a dirty look behind her when she heard a few of the other students snicker at her words."If everyone makes us out to be the villains, what else are we going to act like, I mean you saw what happened at the sorting," Lily remembered it vaguely as she was only paying attention when the hat yelled Gryffindor, "Everyone claps when someone is sorted into Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, hell, even Hufflepuff gets applause, but when you're sorted into Slytherin, three fourths of the school boos" (Y/N) grew more upset by the minute as she recalled a young boys face drop from happy to ashamed after having heard the boos directed at his house, but she took a deep breath and steadied herself, "so, just because I'm in Slytherin, I'm supposed to hate every muggle-born in the school, every muggle I come across I'm supposed to kill? Well, I don't care if you're muggle-born, you seem to be better at magic than most of the pure-blood students here anyway."

This took Lily by surprise, the simplicity of her words, 'I don't care,' amazed Lily and brought a small smile to her face, which surely spread until she was beaming and quietly giggling.

"Is something funny?" (Y/N) asked, narrowing her eyes, her patience for any harsh words wearing thin.

"No, it's just, ah," Lily took a deep breath and continued, "it's nice to talk to you about this things, I find the narrative of all Slytherins being evil just stupid," at her words the other girl noticeably relaxed and agreed. The smile returned to Lily's face and was mirrored on (Y/N)'s, the giggling recommenced and drew the attention of a disgruntled James Potter and Sirius Black, sitting in the far back corner, wondering what Lily and a Slytherin could possibly be giggling about.

"What do you think's going on there?" Asked Sirius, still paying close attention to the potion, while James completely resigned as a potioneer after seeing Lily talking passionately to (Y/N) (L/N). Now, he didn't really know much about the girl, but the only thing he knew about her was enough to awake the anger within him: she was a Slytherin.

"I don't know but I don't like it," he puffed, and dropped his head on the table.

Sirius sighed beside him, eyeing the pair of them, who were almost finished with their potion, even though they still had a quarter hour left. He sighed, "Yeah, I don't like it either."

"Alright, everyone time's up, let us see who's come closest to brewing the perfect elixir!" Announced Slughorn, as he went to stand in front of the class. "Ah, first up, my proteges," he all but danced to the table in earnest to see what his star pupils have concocted. He went into the details of what makes a potion perfect, all while examining the substance in their cauldron. "Merlin's beard!" He exclaimed after a few seconds of silence, "It's perfect, one sip of this and I'd be euphoric for the rest of my days!" The girls smiled at each other and waited for his commentary on the other potions.

"We make quite a good team," Lily said with a smile reaching her eyes.

"It seems we do," replied the Slytherin girl, with a softer more reserved smile playing on her lips.

After Slughorn finished inspecting the other potions, he, again, stood at the front of the class and cleared his throat. "After thorough investigation, I've noticed that all of you brewed a passable potion, which is quite a feat considering it was your first try," he reassured, but continued, "But the winners are, undoubtedly, Miss Evans and Miss (L/N)!"

The girls speedily rose from their seats and accepted the rewards. "Thank you, Professor," said (Y/N), closely studying the vial in her hand.

"You don't need to thank me, you girls have thoroughly impressed me this lesson," he smiled genuinely, and as the class was coming to an end the students have already started walking through the door. The two girls also bid their goodbyes and went their separate ways, Lily to the Gryffindor tower and (Y/N) to the Slytherin common room.

As soon as Lily turned the corner she was met with the prying eyes of Sirius Black and James Potter, who obviously had something they wanted to ask.

"Yes?" She questioned, not in the mood to deal with their intrusive questions, no doubt Potter will ask her out to Hogsmeade for the fifteenth time that day.

"We were just wondering" started James, fixing his glasses and bumped his shoulder with Sirius's, who finished his sentence, "what were you and that Slytherin girl giggling about in there?" They clearly wanted to ask a different question, more along the lines of ' _What are you doing fraternising with the enemy?!_ ' but Lily settled with a simple answer.

"Oh, nothing," she started walking away from them, "just girl talk, you two wouldn't understand."

"Why?" James asked, confusion evident on his face, meanwhile Sirius was looking at him as if he'd grown a second head.

"Uh, maybe because we're not girls, you idiot!" hollered Sirius, swatting James over the head, almost knocking the glasses off his face.

"What was that for, you-" started James, but Lily was already a long way down the corridor, not particularly interested in the scuffle the two were bound to get into.

"Halfwits," she murmured as she ascended the stairs.

"Anyway, as I was saying-" James looked at the place he was certain Lily was still standing and marvelling at him winning an argument with Sirius. "Where'd she go? She was here just a second ago," he scratched his head in confusion, while Sirius shot his a look of utter disbelief.

"You do know, we've been arguing for the better part of five minutes, right?" He exclaimed, sheer amazement evident on his face and in his words.

"Yeah, and it was quite amusing to watch," remarked a voice behind them. They both turned, hastily searching for the person, who interrupted them getting into their second argument. There stood (Y/N) (L/N), the Slytherin girl they were both not-so-discreetly discussing. She wore a smug look on her face, very obviously entertained by the fact she caught them by surprise.

"What are you doing here?" snarled James, the embarrassment still apparent on his face by the redness of his cheeks. Sirius seemed less fazed, he had no blush dusting his cheeks or his ears like Potter did, but they wore the same scowl, both clearly displeased by her presence.

"What _I'm_ doing here?" the girl barked back, sarcastically, "I'm standing in front of my common room door, unlike you, _Potter_ ," his name sounded filthy coming out of her mouth, as if his name alone left a rotten taste on her tongue. The smugness was gone from her face and left no trace behind, it was replaced by a fiery look of irritation.

“It doesn’t matter what we’re doing, (L/N),” proceeded Sirius, almost succeeding at looking as if he’d had a point, “What matters is you trying to convert Lily onto your evil Slytherin side,” he said matter of factly, shortly after blowing a stray strand of hair out of his face.

She scoffed, “Pff, evil Slytherin side?” She mocked, and after straightening out her robes, she continued, “Is that the best your pea-sized brain could come up with? Please, I’m not surprised Lily chose to seek company outside of your pathetic house, at least with me she’ll be able to have a coherent conversation,” she threw a mocking glance at Potter and he noticeably shrunk under her gaze, to which she grinned smugly.

Sirius was enraged, enraged at how she could stand there and confront them with such ease, leaning on the wall beside her as if she hadn’t a care in the world, her boastful smile not being any help at easing his temper.

“You think you’re so clever, don’t you?” Sirius said, his eyes narrowed, and was quickly interrupted.

“Yes, I do,” she replied cockily.

“It was a rhetorical question,” informed James, seemingly finding his voice, but still speaking carefully and slowly.

“Really?” She gasped, placing a hand on her chest, “I had no idea, I honestly thought he was asking me if I thought I was clever,” she snidely shot back. She was looking at them and they were looking at her, it was a standoff. They stared at each other waiting for the other to make a move. Seconds turned to minutes, they quickly found themselves bored, with better things to do.

“As far as I know, I’m the one emerging from my common room, while you two weasels are snickering about me behind my back,” she puffed out, her expression conveying only boredom and annoyance. “I don’t have time for this, I’ve got Apparition-”

“NOO!” shouted Sirius, frightening the two. “You’re telling me I’ve got to watch you in Apparition too?”

Her frown deepened. “Don’t worry, I’m not too thrilled either,” she said monotonously, then rather impolitely bumped their shoulders as she passed.

“I’m not looking forward to apparition,” grumbled James, his eyes trailing behind the Slytherin girl.

It didn't take long for (Y/N) to get familiar with apparition, much to Sirius' dismay.

“Absolutely marvelous!” Applauded the instructor, “Everyone, what Miss (L/N) has just demonstrated for you all, is safe and correct apparition,” as he began to go on speaking, James, Sirius and Remus were whispering amongst themselves.

“‘ _Perfect, not a scratch_ ’” mimicked Sirius, his eyes trained on the girl standing perfectly in the middle of the hoop, James sighed next to him, his glasses laying crooked on his nose. “I mean it’s infuriating! How is she everywhere now, in the past five years at Hogwarts, I’ve only seen her twice,” Sirius groaned, laying his head in his hands.

“Pads, get over it, why are you still talking about her?” Asked James, notably uninterested in the conversation. “Focus on not splinching half your arse when you apparate,” he finished with a wink, then apparated into his own hoop on the other side of the room.

Sirius huffed and hung his head low, his eyes still trained on the beaming Slytherin girl, seeming to be enjoying basking in the glory.

Sirius’s legs moving on their own accord as soon as the class ended, carried him to the courtyard before he even noticed he was moving. His blood was boiling, this girl, she represented everything he hated about his family: her power-hungry ambition, her blood purity, her determination and her magical talent. As soon as his feet stopped firmly on the ground, he heard her voice shout somewhere behind him.

“Evans! Wait for me!” That was it. He’d reached his boiling point. She was not about to corrupt Lily Evans, the nicest witch he’d ever had the pleasure to meet.

“Trying to recruit her, (L/N)? Tough luck, Lily doesn’t like Death Eaters.” He mocked, she turned her head and they locked eyes.

One breath was all it took for her to blast his body into a wall with a loud bang.

“You really shouldn’t be the one talking about Death Eaters, Black, your entire family is in the ranks, while my parents are in the Order,” she said calmly once she approached his aching form, still half-sitting on the ground.

“(L/N)! Black!” They heard from the other side of the courtyard, everyone turned their heads and saw professor McGonagall swiftly getting nearer, her face pulled into a very angry scowl, her eyebrows furrowed, perfectly conveying her disapproval. “This is not how Hogwarts students are supposed to act!” The watching crowd quickly dispersed as soon as the Transfiguration professor turned her eyes on it, she then turned back to the pair of troublemakers. “Detention,” she said calmly, “for both of you.”

Sirius’s face fell, he was certain he was not going to get in trouble. “But, Professor,” he scrambled to his feet, “she’s the one who hexed me!” He said, pointing fingers to emphasise his point.

“Being a provocateur is no better, Mister Black.”


	2. Chapter 2

"Argh!"

She rolled her eyes at the boy stuck in detention with her. He's been whining for the better part of and hour and she just about had enough.

"Oh, will you shut up already?!" her head turned to Sirius, who was moping in the corner instead of scrubbing the cauldrons like they'd been instructed. "And you're not even helping," she muttered more to herself than anyone else, but she didn't really care if he heard her or not.

"I'm sorry if I've got better things to do than scrub grime off cauldrons," he grumbled, but still dragged himself over to the table where the Slytherin girl was duly scrubbing.

Just as Sirius picked up a cauldron to clean, Filtch walked grumpily into the room. "Professor McGonagall says you've done enough. Now get to the Great Hall." Just as quickly as he came, he left, Mrs. Norris trailing behind him.

"Oh, thank Merlin," the girl grabbed her bag and darted out the door, not caring enough about Sirius' oncoming insult to wait for it.

She ran to the Slytherin dorms and chucked her bag on her bed, the hurried back in the direction of the Great Hall, Sirius walking a few paces in front of her.

He turned his head at the sound of footsteps from behind him. "Why can't I get rid of you?" He asks. still walking and facing ahead.

She scoffs out a laugh, "We're going to the same place, genius," her mocking voice made his jaw clench, but she continued, "I don't much enjoy your company either, I don't know why Remus and Evans hang about with someone as thick as pig shit."

'That's it' he thought as he came to a halt at the entrance to the Great Hall, he took a deep breath, preparing to give her hell, but when he turned around she kept walking, not even sparing him a glance.

He was angry, he was annoyed, with himself sure, but mostly with (Y/N) (L/N), who could make his skin crawl before she even enters the room.

He stomped to the empty space beside Remus at the Gryffindor table. He slumped forward, his hands in his hair.

"So, I reckon detention was wicked?" James joked from across the table, kicking Sirius' feet. "Did you rip each others heads off?"

He lifted his head and looked at James, clearly miffed, and puffed out a breath, "She's insufferable."

Remus chuckled beside him, "Ah, children," he teased, bumping his shoulder with the moody lad, who was at the moment letting out the longest sigh he'd ever heard. "Oh, come off it, you're acting like a child, it was just an hour in detention."

Sirius shoved a chicken leg in his mouth, so he wouldn't be expected to talk. His friends took the hint and started chatting about the day's events.

He was mostly paying attention, while also playing with the food on his plate, but the he heard a snicker from behind him.

"Did you have fun in detention, Black?" standing there, shit eating grins on their faces, were Avery and Mulciber. Sirius turned back to his plate, but the duo continued regardless. "If you're this miffed, imagine how hard it must've been for (L/N), she must've ripped half her hair out by now," Avery pondered, but then a smug grin spreads across his face, the two boys made a very exaggerated turn to (Y/N).

"Oh, never mind," Sirius' head snapped up, and he really didn't want to, but his angry gaze landed on the girl anyway. "She doesn't look all that bothered," they laughed but James interrupted.

"You bellends don't even like her, why are you here?"

The Slytherin boys looked at each other, seemingly at a loss for words, so instead of coming up with a retort the two turned around and left to go back to their table.

The boys went back to chatting, Sirius fell silent again, but his eyes were locked on (Y/N) talking and laughing with a few girls from her house. His hands were clenched into tight fists, but his stare was broken when Lily stood up and walked past them, giving them a polite smile and wave, which they returned. James' eyes were trained on Lily, while Sirius was already glaring at the Slytherin girl again.

Much to their chagrin Lily calmly walked over to the Slytherin table and dragged (Y/N) out of the room, both of them laughing.

The boys all looked at each other and rushed out of the Great Hall, tripping and stumbling their way up to Gryffindor tower. James pulled out his invisibility cloak, Peter was already scanning the map for the two girls.

"They're in the courtyard!" The boy exclaimed and they all stuffed themselves under the cloak and rushed to the courtyard, the girls were just turning a corner so they followed them to the Black lake.

Lily's giggle could be heard from where the boys stood, closer to the castle, as the girls plopped on the ground. The group tiptoed nearer and finally settled themselves a few paces away, close enough to hear their conversation, but not close enough for the girls to hear their shuffling.

Lily was just explaining what she, Alice, and Dorcas were up to while (Y/N) was in detention. "How was it, by the way?"

"He's infuriating," Lily laughed, but (Y/N) wasn't finished, "he spent most of the time crying in the corner like an annoying, big baby."

The boys, safe for Sirius, were struggling to contain their snickers, while Sirius' jaw was open wide - Lily and (Y/N) were laughing at _him_.

"Yeah, he's a handful," Lily admits, (Y/N) humming in agreement, "but," Lily continued-

"He's my friend, so you should be nice," (Y/N) mimicked Lily in a voice far too shrill to be even close to Lily's warm, sweet one.

"I do not sound like that," she replied, smacking her Slytherin friend on the arm. "And, yes, he is my friend and I would appreciate it if you made an effort."

The boys were touched that Lily was defending Sirius in front of her friend.

"It's not like I was instigating anything, I was completely silent during detention and I was not the one who provoked him and landed us in detention," the girl countered, "he was the one, who did that."

Lily sighed, her closed eyes indicating she was a bit miffed. "I know, I know, it's," she pauses, collecting her thoughts, "I just wish you'd get along, so I wouldn't need to sort my time, when to be with you and when Sirius and the boys."

(Y/N) let out a long breath, then sat straighter, "Fine, I'll be nice," she said in a tone implying she found it hard. Lily smiled and nodded, and just as she was about to change the topic, (Y/N) piped up again.

"But just so you know, if we're talking about what happened, I should probably tell you, that I may have told him he was thick as pig shit."

James cringed under the cloak, "Uf, that's gotta hurt."

No one was expecting to hear a shriek from Lily that quickly evolved into a laugh. (Y/N) laughed with her, teasing her for 'cackling like a chicken'.

"That's-" Lily wiped the tears from her eyes, "That's bad, you shouldn't have said that."

Then a sharp wind chilled them all, the girls quickly scurried up to the castle, the boys trailing behind them. As soon as the girls wee out of sight they pulled the cloak off and James stuffed it into his robes.

"So," James began reluctantly, "she said she'll be nice." He bumped Sirius' shoulder. He grumbled but didn't say a word. His friends looked at each other, then Remus spoke up.

"Mate, Lily asked her to be nice to you, will you do the same?"

Sirius still didn't speak, but nodded grumpily.

"Good," James smiled, "then let's test it out, here they come."

All of them turned to look at the two girls walking their way, still engrossed in their conversation. When they were close enough, Lily smiled, while (Y/N) was still talking about how mush she hates pumpkin juice. Lily discreetly whispered in her friend's ear, "Be nice," but the girl only rolled her eyes, letting Lily pull her to the group of Gryffindor boys.

"Hello, boys," she chirped, the lot of them, greeted gleefully back, while Sirius only nodded.

"So, (Y/N), have you finished the essay for Charms?" Remus asked, naturally not opposed to talking to (Y/N) as they were often sat together in class.

"Oh, no I'm not done yet, it's so bloody boring!"

Remus nodded, then suggested if they could go over the material together, "If you want to, of course."

"I'd love to, I'm shit at memorising."

James and Peter struck up a conversation with Lily, but Sirius was just stood there, not saying a word. (Y/N)'s eyes flitted to him a few times, but he only looked at his shoes, clearly uncomfortable with her there. She waited for Remus to say when and where, she quickly agreed, and turned to the mopey in the middle of a rowdy group. She sighed and then cleared her throat. "Sirius, can I speak to you, alone?"

His eyes snapped to hers, which was a bit dramatic, given that everyone else didn't even so much as blink. He realised he hadn't yet given an answer, and shrugged his shoulders and mumbled a simple 'sure'.

They retreated to a corner in the courtyard, trying to get some semblance of privacy.

"Uh," she breathed, her eyes flitting from person to person, looking if any of them were watching them. "So, Lily and I had a little chat." Sirius' eyes were trained on her face, but hers were on anything other than the man she was speaking to. He thought this to be strange, given her otherwise very direct glare. "And, uh, she asked me to be nice. To you, I mean," her eyes met his, only for a moment, "so, I'm sorry for, uh, saying you're thick."

He scoffed, "Thick as pig shit, I believe is what you said." His face was locked in a scowl and their friends could see it from across the courtyard.

(Y/N) looked at him with an inscrutable expression on her face, she swallowed thickly and he could see her stress from the way her brows furrowed and her jaw clenched ever so slightly. "Yeah, that," she said, her eyes locked on his and for some reason that didn't sit right with him.

"So are you apologising because you mean it or because Lily told you to?" Both of them were standing as still as statues.

Lily's eyes have been set on the pair for the last few seconds, she noticed (Y/N)'s shoulders tense, she nudged Remus so he would look at them, even to just reassure her that everything was alright.

"Lily didn't tell me to apologise, she asked me to be nice to you and I thought this was the right move."

He tilts his head, "So you didn't mean it?"

"Not really," she answered without hesitation.

Lily was instantly on the move.

"You bloody bitch," he growled.

She nearly snarled at him, "Well, at least I'm not acting like a bloody baby, whenever something doesn't go my way!" Lily reached (Y/N) and started pulling her away, but she wasn't finished and it looked like Sirius also had some things to get off his chest. "We had detention for an hour and it was the longest hour of my bloody life, I fucking hate you!" Lily finally dragged her out of the courtyard and she was certain the boys would handle Sirius.

"What the hell happened?!" The red-head exclaimed, when they were halfway to the Great Hall.

"Nothing, I apologised for calling him stupid and he wasn't having it." (Y/N) pulls her arm out of Lily's grip and they both stop in the corridor. "Look, I'm sorry," she added, her shoulders slumped, her whole body looking as it it would rather be on the floor or under it. "I can't stand him, he didn't want to talk and, honestly, I'm relieved because I can't put up with him."

They both take a moment, relishing in the welcome silence, and just when Lily was going to say something, her friend beat her to the punch. "I'm going to my room." She then turned and walked away before Lily even got the chance to speak.

The boys were just turning the corner, when they saw (Y/N) stomp away from Lily, they had just finished giving Sirius a stern talking to.

_"But she said I'm thick as pig shit!"_

_"You are!"_

They made their way over to Lily, who just stood there, looking at the spot where her friend disappeared.

"Hey, Evans," James greeted, making her turn around. "So, wheres (Y/N)?"

She sighed and shrugged. "Went down to the dungeons, I guess." She then started climbing the stairs, presumably to go to her own room.

Remus pinched his nose and let out a sharp breath, "Is it really that hard to swallow your pride and just be nice?" Sirius sighed and Remus sent him a harsh glare, "You really do act like a baby sometimes."

He was just about to retort but James have him a jab in the arm. Sirius rolled his eyes and followed the group to Gryffindor tower.


	3. Chapter 3

Lily was pissed. Pissed because (Y/N) was impossible to corner long enough to have a normal conversation with, and, of course, the fact (Y/N) was a Slytherin didn’t help much, because both of their housemates were sending them subtle glares.

She was sitting at the Gryffindor table, her eyes trained on the entrance to the Great hall, patiently waiting for her friend to enter through the door. The last few times Lily was too late to breakfast to see (Y/N), much less talk to her, but she wouldn’t let it dampen her spirit. So, she woke up 20 minutes earlier and was the first there.

Slowly, but surely students began to trickle into the room, some of them indicating they’d just woken up - obviously James Potter stumbled tiredly to his seat at the table, which was, of course, close to Lily. He sat next to her, followed suit by the other Marauders, but her eyes never left the Slytherin table.

“Oh, Merlin,” Lily uttered, her plateful of food made her stomach churn, “She didn’t come to breakfast.” She began shoving large amounts of food into her mouth, in hopes of being quick enough to find (Y/N) before the 6th years leave for Hogsmeade. Her friends and housemates gave her a few strange looks, but otherwise everyone was too tired to care.

“What’s got you in such a hurry?” Remus asked, his eyes barely open enough to see the girl he was speaking to. “That eager to get to Hogsmeade, huh?” He looked at her now, but it was as if she hadn’t even heard him, so Dorcas nudged Lily’s foot and pointed at the boy.

“Oh, no” she corrected, “I’m waiting for (Y/N), I thought it was obvious,” and after she was finished she turned back to look at the door, hoping that maybe (Y/N) was just running late.

Then James piped up, Lily had almost forgotten he was even there. “Maybe it’s for the best, she obviously doesn’t want to be bothered,” he comforted, although the girl looked only more determined. “Besides,” he took a sip of pumpkin juice, “I think you dodged a bullet with that one.”

“What do you mean ‘I dodged a bullet’?” She asked, now turned away from the door, looking straight into James’ eyes, but it wasn’t as romantic as he’d hoped.

“W-well, you know, she-” he stumbled over his words, not quite finding the right tones before he was cut off by Lily.

“Because she’s a Slytherin?” The boy shrunk under her gaze, but she continued, “I don’t need you approval, Potter, you’re not my dad, you’re just a bloke I go to school with,” with that she stood up and stormed out of the Great hall.

Sirius, who was sitting on the other side of the table and had been silent this whole time, lifted his head and wiped his face, not meeting his friends’ staring eyes. He waited for the others to finish and then stood up.

Dumbledore’s announcement, that the 6th years would be leaving for Hogsmeade in 15 minutes, was a welcome distraction from the tense silence left to linger ever since Lily left. The boys stood and rushed to their room to get ready for Hogsmeade, wouldn’t want to forget James’ invisibility cloak. The boys then made their way to the Courtyard, from where the students, would be escorted by Professor McGonagall. There were 5 minutes left before their departure.

Meanwhile, Lily was stood in front of the Slytherin common room, begging and pleading for someone to let her in or to call her friend out to the corridor, but she was only met with harsh glances and even harsher words. Then she was Severus, whom she hadn’t talked to since the mudblood incident a year before, so she sucked in a breath and called out to him.

“Severus!” She waved a bit frantically, “can you please tell (Y/N) to come out, we’re going to miss Hogsmeade,” the boy flushed, but she wasn’t ready to forgive yet, so she was relieved when he only nodded and disappeared into the Slytherin common room, presumably to get the girl she requested.

She was waiting for what felt like hours before the door opened, but it wasn’t (Y/N), no, it was Avery and Mulciber, Severus’ death eater friends, she carefully stepped a foot back.

They’d just turned their head towards her and she began to feel anxious about whatever encounter she was about to have with the Slytherin boys, but was interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

“Do you two mind pissing off?” (Y/N) asked through a deep sigh, “It’s a private conversation.” The boys grumbled but complied nonetheless. Then the girl’s eyes turned to Lily, who wasn’t even packed for Hogsmeade, and started walking in the direction of the Courtyard.

A million thoughts were running through Lily’s mind and she didn’t even know where to begin; does she apologise, or does she wait for her to apologise, it was all very confusing. “Listen,” she began, but their walking speed never wavered. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked you to try with Sirius, the feeling is obviously mutual between the two fo you.”

By this time, they’ve nearly made it to the courtyard, with only a minute or so left before they leave, but then (Y/N) replied, “It’s not your fault, but-” she scanned her eyes over the crowd to find her roommates, whom she would be spending the day with, “but I don’t think this friendship is a good idea,” Lily’s eyes welled with tears and the Slytherin girl wasn’t even looking at her, she was still searching for her companions.

“Why?” Lily asked quietly.

“Well-” she let out a sigh, before continuing, “It’s so much work, I mean, Sirius is a big part of your group and he doesn't particularly like me, your house hates me, my house hates you, it just doesn’t make sense,” and then she let her eyes meet Lily’s, which were filled with a few good tears at this point. “I’m sorry, but it’s hard being your friend when all of your other friends think of me as the enemy.” She then squeezed Lily’s shoulder for just a second and disappeared into the crowd.

“Alright, students, this way please!”

Hogsmeade was always fun, from the shops to the overall feeling of being away from the castle and somewhere new. The Marauders were just leaving Zonko’s joke shop, when they noticed Lily sitting on a bench outside the shop, Alice and Dorcas crouching next to her in comfort. The boys looked at each other and slowly trudged out to the girls.

Remus was the first to speak, “How are you enjoying Hogsmeade?” But he was met with firm looks from Alice and Dorcas.

“Not at all, actually,” Alice answered, her hand rubbing Lily’s back, handing her another chocolate frog, which the red-head quickly ate. “Lily doesn’t want to do anything because (L/N) told her they can’t be friends.”

Sirius rolled his eyes, and was promptly smacked across the head by Dorcas. “You think this is funny?” She harshly asked, and he shrunk under her gaze.

While, Sirius and Dorcas were starting to argue, Peter and James noticed (Y/N) entering Honeydukes, not too far from where they were, but the girl didn’t seem to notice the commotion.

“Ahem,” James, cleared his throat, gaining the group’s attention, he motioned for Sirius to ‘come here’ and then whispered in his ear, something along the lines of ‘Honeydukes’, ‘apology’, and ‘bellend’. Sirius looked at his friend, who was completely serious, and started walking to the sweet shop.

“Where did you send him?” Lily sniffled, pathetically.

“Oh, I just wanted a chocolate frog,” James answered, a knowing smile on his lips.

Once Sirius entered the shop, the delicious scent of chocolate almost distracted him long enough to not notice the girl he was here to apologise to walking to the far back of the shop, which was usually quieter than the rest of it. He sighed and walked over.

He stopped at the isle she was in, but did nothing to make her notice him sooner, instead he opted to lean on the shelf and just observe her, how her fingers lingered a little too long on a chocolate she knew she shouldn’t have, or how her eyebrows twitch whenever she hears her housemates argue too loudly in the shop.

Finally, he cleared his throat, making her flinch, as she was lost in her thoughts, her eyes landed on his face, and the grim look that crossed her face was hard to miss, still she said nothing and waited for him to start.

He took a step and straightened his back. “I’m-” his jaw clenched, he let out a puff of air and tried again, “I’m sorry, for saying you’re a bitch-”

“You apologising cause you mean it?” She teased, her face relaxing a bit but not too much as this was Sirius Black, one of the cockiest people in Hogwarts.

He rolled his eyes, something he found himself doing quite a lot recently. He was about to explain how sad Lily was and everything but was stopped by a snicker from behind him, he turned and (Y/N) looked over his shoulder at the sudden noise.

“How sweet, you’re apologising,” another one of Snape’s Death eater friends took it upon himself to make everyone’s life hell. “(L/N), I don’t know why you’re wasting your time with Black, come with us for a butter beer,” he invited sleazily, both (Y/N) and Sirius painfully aware of how the Slytherin boy’s eyes hungrily trailed up the girls body, the Gryffindor shuffled a bit to shield her from the bloke’s unwelcome gaze.

“Knotts, if the option was to either get butter beer with you or get killed, I’d say kill me,” the girl replied and then nudged Sirius, urging him to move out of the way, before Knotts decides he wants to play dirty.

They’re both rushing from isle to isle, avoiding getting caught by the few Slytherins in the shop. They slowly made their way to the counter, both silent, but not as angry and the last time they spoke.

“So,” she began as her assortment of sweets was being bagged, “What’s the sudden apology for?” Her fingers danced on the counter, waiting to pay the clerk behind the counter as soon as he told her the total price.

Sirius looked puzzled, he hadn’t even noticed that this apology went smoother than the last one did, he was still on edge and expecting her to blast him into tomorrow any second now, but was surprised when they both walked out into the chilly November weather, and found their friends still sitting on the bench where Sirius left them. He looked at her and she looked back with a nervous look in her eyes. He puffed out a subtle laugh, not wanting her to know he wasn’t still mad at her.

They dragged their feet to the bench, her walking slightly behind him, trying to hide, but he was having none of it, so he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her in front of him all the way to the bench.

Peter was the first to notice they’d arrived, a smile already present on his face, then it was James, Alice, Dorcas, Remus, and, finally, Lily, who jumped up and crushed her friend in a hug that tipped them both over so they were lying on the ground, Lily on top of the poor Slytherin girl. The group laughed at this and Dorcas quickly helped Lily stand, while Sirius was the one to pick up (Y/N), but only because he was closest.

“Cheers,” she murmured, wiping her coat to get off some of the gravel that Lily so unexpectedly tackled her onto. He didn’t say anything, just watched her trying to clean her coat, how the green in her uniform actually suited her— he shook his head at the thought, green would never look good, it’s a nasty colour.

“Yeah, no problem,” he rushed then sauntered over to where the boys were standing, observing how their friend interacted with a girl he claimed to hate. James wiggled his eyebrows, while Remus and Peter just barked out a laugh. Sirius huffed, but smiled nonetheless. They said goodbye to the girls, Sirius’ eyes cast on (Y/N) politely shaking Alice’s hand as that was the first time they’ve officially met.

(Y/N) took a seat next to Lily on the bench and pulled out a box of chocolates that she was planning on giving to Lily sometime today anyway, just as an apology. Lily was practically beaming at her, and Alice and Dorcas didn’t seen too bothered that she was sitting with them, but she still felt the need to ask, “Is it alright, if I stay with you, my roommates are bitches?”

This time it was Dorcas, whom she’d spoken to about two times before this, who answered first, “Of course, you can,” a small smile played on the Slytherin’s face as the group stood up and rushed to the Three Broomsticks to get out of the cold. The booth at the far back was the only one left so the four girls dashed over, (Y/N) knocking someone over the head with her bag, before hurrying to the table, where the three girls were already laughing at her antics.

“I would love some mead,” Dorcas sighs once their laughter dies down, “can’t order one though, guess I’ll have a butter beer again.”

Their newest addition just stared at them with wide eyes, “What do you mean, you can’t order one, I always get mead here?” She glanced over her shoulder at Madam Rosmerta, who was busy with a patron at the bar, but she would get to their table eventually, and they weren’t in a rush so they welcomed the time to just sit and chat.

The girls’ attention was brought to the door of the pub as four rowdy Gryffindor boys laughed and stumbled their way in. They saw Remus stand on his tip toes and rake his eyes over the room, suddenly Lily jumped up and started waving her hands in a ‘come here’ motion. Sure, the booth they’d occupied had place for 6 people, not 8, but Lily was sure they would manage.

James nudged Remus, a lovesick smile on his face, and started walking to the booth at the far end of the pub, hidden behind two pillars, the boys walking behind him. When they stopped at the table they all just looked at each other, before Alice shrieked unexpectedly, “Wait! Oh, no, I was supposed to meet Frank at Galdrags’ 15 minutes ago!” She ran out of the pub, her hair whipping around her face.

Then, there were 7 of them, that could fit, someone just needs to nick a chair from somewhere and just as (Y/N) started looking around for possibilities, Madam Rosmerta set down a chair next to her.

“Alright, youngsters, what can I bring you?”

Everyone ordered a butter beer, while (Y/N) just gave Rosmerta a subtle look, to which the barkeep smiled widely. The boys sat down, James practically squishing Lily against Dorcas, Remus and Peter also sat down across the table from (Y/N), which meant that Sirius would have to sit there, which neither of them particularly liked.

James started telling everybody about their run in with Filtch earlier today, which had all of them in stitches. “And then, Remus said, that he could handle it, as he is a Prefect.” All eyes turned to Remus, who flushed. (Y/N) decided to tease him, “So, you’re abusing your power, Remus, I expected better from you,” she said with a smug smile, even Sirius chuckled at her little quip.

Eventually, they bid farewell to Rosmerta and started walking to the castle, (Y/N) and Dorcas rushing ahead so they could pelt Avery and Mulciber with stink pellets from behind and still have enough time to run away in case things didn’t go according to plan.

The others just watched them hide and await the Slytherin boys. Lily walked with the boys, laughing at her friends’ foolishness, before she turned her head and looked at Sirius, an honest smile on her lips, “Thank you,” she grinned, he just shrugged, and looked on with a smile, as the two girls just finished enchanting the pellets to chase after the two boys.

“Argh, what’s that smell?!” Avery shouted, pinching his nose.

The girls burst out laughing, and started running towards the castle and Avery and Mulciber took off after them, but just as they were passing Sirius, he ‘accidentally’ stuck out his leg. Avery picked himself off the floor and took off running again.

(Y/N)’s laugh could still be heard as they saw the girls sprinting up to the castle, the two boys not too far behind.


	4. Chapter 4

Christmas time at Hogwarts was a treat, the halls were decorated to the highest degree, Flitwick's choir sang merry songs and the snow covered castle looked almost picturesque, with white, powdery snow covering every last inch. The murmur of the students in the Great Hall was joyful and happy, it was their last meal before the train was scheduled to depart in a few hours. All the tables were covered with delicious food, half of it having been already eaten by the time (Y/N) and Lily walked in the room.

"And you're actually staying here over Christmas?" asked Lily, for the billionth time that day, not able to picture her friend all alone for the most jolly time of year.

"Yes, my parents are away and it's better than being home alone, isn't it?" the girl murmured in response then gave the redhead a smile before walking over to her table and shovelling a good amount of food on her plate.

Across the room, the boys were loudly discussing their plans, Remus was going to catch up on some sleep, Peter said something about visiting his aunt in Italy, while James and Sirius were arguing over what they were going to do at the Potters' house.

"We should go out!" Argued James, while Sirius was intent in staying in and watching the telly, anything to get his mind off all the family talk that comes around Christmas. "Go for a walk or something," the boy continued suggesting, but immediately stopped talking when Lily neared the table, Sirius chuckled at his actions and leaned over his friend and asked her about her holiday plans.

The girl huffed and sat down, completely ignoring his question, "(Y/N) is staying here over holiday because her parents aren't going to be home," she held her head in her hands, her eyes flickering every so often to the Slytherin girl, with her nose buried in the newest issue of the Daily Prophet, completely unaware of the affect her staying at the castle over Christmas was doing to Lily's nerves. "It's just so sad, but I can't stay here with her."

Peter piped up with an idea, "Just invite her to your house," he said as if it was plain as day, but the girl shook her head and explained her family plans to travel to France to see some relatives.

"I just hate the thought of her spending Christmas alone," her head hung low and before James could even think of a response he already spoke.

"She can spend the holiday at mine."

The group looked at him with slacked jaws, especially Sirius, but he was looking directly into Lily's eyes, trying not to show that he hadn't really thought this whole idea all the way through, but the girl jumped in for a hug, squeezing his shoulders tight, before unwrapping her hands from his frame, ignoring his trance-like gaze, before asking him if he was sure. He nodded and she pulled him up by his sleeves and started dragging him towards (Y/N). All he could do was send a wink to his still speechless friends.

Sirius was confused, confused because he wasn't angry that James offered, confused because, yes it was an inconvenience, they weren't friends by all means, but they also didn't despise each other, as per their agreement to keep things civil for the sake of the group, but this, this was something new, it would be just James, Sirius, and her pretending to be friends so James' parents wouldn't be put in the awkward position of having two kids who weren't theirs picking fights in their home. Now he was angry.

At the Slytherin table, (Y/N)'s head turned the second she heard squeaky shoes shuffling their way to her seat, and of course, it was Lily, and surprisingly she was tightly gripping the sleeve of one James Potter, who was looking more and more nervous the closer they got. The girl stood up, not wanting her house-mates to make a scene, so they all huddled in a corner to get some semblance of privacy.

"So, (Y/N)," Lily began, her smile widening by the second, "James has something he'd like to tell you." She bumped the boy's shoulder, signalling his cue.

The brunette cleared his throat and readjusted his glasses before meeting the Slytherin girl's gaze. "Um, Lily mentioned that you'd be spending Christmas here, and I," he let out a breath, only now realising how this plan of his could easily backfire, "I was wondering, if you'd like to come and stay at mine, if you want of course," he added sheepishly, and Lily jumped to reassure her friend that James and Sirius would be nice, and how much better it would be for her to not be alone for Christmas.

(Y/N) wore the same look as Sirius did, eyes wide and shock written all over her face, but she nodded nonetheless, and chuckled, "This break will be an interesting one."

The train ride passed by quicker than she thought it would, but sitting in a carriage with Lily and her friends was a welcome distraction that kept her mind off the awkwardness she was bound to feel at the Potter house. The girls bid goodbye to each other and (Y/N) started walking over to the two boys waiting for her at the far end of the platform, she rushed over to them, stumbling over a loose stocking hanging out of her bag, and greeted them with a tight lipped smile.

James led the group through the wall and out of the station, where his father was waiting with a smile. They embraced, and then the older man pulled Sirius into a hug just as warm, (Y/N) couldn't help but notice the smile playing on Sirius' lips. Then James' father turned to her. She quickly stuck out her hand, her other arm barely gripping her bag, and introduced herself. The man laughed and shook her hand eagerly.

"Well, very nice to meet you (Y/N), although it is a bit of a surprise that my son invited you over, but it's a welcome surprise nonetheless." He then took her bag and put it in the trunk, then opened the door for her like a true gentleman, she smiled and climbed in the car. "That's how you get the ladies, boys," she heard from outside the car, to which she laughed, quickly covering her mouth so as to not be too loud. The three men climbed into the car, James and his father chatting in the front, and her and Sirius sitting quietly in the back, both of them looking out of their windows.

The house was lovely, even lovelier was the woman who greeted them at the door, embracing both of the boys, making them groan about how she was embarrassing them, but she didn't give. Then she clasped her hands and took in the girl on front of her.

"Aw, you're a beauty, aren't you?" The woman asked, before shaking her head in embarrassment, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Euphemia, James' mum," she shook the girl's hand quickly ushered them all inside.

"James, will you show (Y/N) the spare room, please?" Fleamont asked his son, who nodded and signalled for the girl to follow him upstairs. Meanwhile, Euphemia got her hands on Sirius, who was trying to remain unnoticed in the kitchen, and pulled him into the dining room.

"So," she began smugly, "why did James invite her over?" She asked, wiggling her eyebrows, before Sirius let out a genuine laugh.

"You've got it all wrong," he wheezed, "he just invited her because Lily said she was going to be alone for Christmas, and you know James, heart of gold," he answered, then walked upstairs to begin unpacking. He passed the spare bedroom, but turned once he heard the muffled laughing behind the door. He knocked and the laughter died down, then (Y/N) spoke.

"Yes?" she asked, and he opened the door, only to find James sprawled over the small chair in the corner of the room, clutching an album full of his baby pictures, while (Y/N) was itching ever closer. James opted to hold the album over his head and out of her reach. "That's not fair!" she protested, cornering the boy and jumping in an effort of getting her hands on the pictures.

"What's all this?" Sirius asked, the pair having forgot he knocked on the door in the first place.

"Pads, help me!" James whined, his arms growing tired from holding the heavy book.

"Sirius, no!" (Y/N) shouted as soon as he took a step closer to help his friend. He stopped in his tracks. "Help me, James is obviously hiding something awfully embarrassing in that album, I'm sure you'd love to see it," she coaxed, her voice dripping with honey.

Sirius pondered, knowing the two were both looking at him and hoping he made the right decision. He straightened his back and pushed the girl aside, James instantly let out a sigh of relief, dropping his arms, still holding the book.

She was miffed, _that prick_ , she was just about to open her mouth, when Sirius snatched the album from James' grasp and bolted out of the room. (Y/N) looked at James, and he looked at her, then they both shoved and pushed themselves down the stairs, racing to catch up with the thief. The faint sound of laughter made them stop in the corridor, they both heaved, taking a long time to catch their breaths, she was the first to speak.

"I thought you were a quidditch player," she teased between breaths, "aren't you supposed to be in tip top shape?" which earned her a shove but not a reply, since James was still out of breath.

They gathered themselves and peeked into the living room and saw Sirius and Euphemia sitting on the sofa, leisurely flipping through the album, both sporting a small smile.

"You know," James whispered, leaning against the wall. bumping his shoulder with hers, "He's been living here for the past few months?" He said, calmly, but her reaction was anything but.

"What?!" she exclaimed quietly, her hands gripping his sleeves, "What happened? What?!"

James' expression grew more grim, he let out a breath, "I don't know if it's my place to say," he answered and before she could even begin to pry, Sirius let out a laugh. They both spun back to the living room and slammed right into Sirius. They fell to the floor, but Sirius quickly picked up the girl and sprinted up the stairs, leaving James to stand up himself. They ran back to the spare room and Sirius quickly locked the door behind them, a devilish smile present on his face.

She was suddenly nervous, he never sported a smile when she was near, it was always a grimace or a frown, her nerves only grew as he started walking closer. He then shoved the album in her hands just as James started pounding on the door.

"That took a long time!" Sirius laughed, James' groans from outside the door only spurring him on. "Prongs, it's only photos," he chuckled and unlocked the door. Only when the girl laid her eyes on James, did she remember the album in her hands, she rushed to find the right page, but James pulled it from her before she could.

"You're such pricks!" James exclaimed dramatically and left to go to his room, undoubtedly to hide the album. This left Sirius and (Y/N) alone in her room, smiles playing on both their lips.

(Y/N) sat on the bed, her hands plopping behind her to hold herself up. "So," she began, a cough breaking the comfortable silence they somehow found themselves in, "James told me you've been living here for a few months."

Sirius sat on the chair on the other side of the room, running his hands through his hair, he let out a sigh. "Did he tell you why?" She only shook her head.

They both sat in silence, her thinking he was about to divulge how he ended up living with the Potters, and him hoping she wouldn't pry any deeper.

"You don't have to say, if you don't want to," she assured, even though her ears were burning.

He smiled and dropped his head, "Yeah, I don't really want to talk about it."

"Oh," she said, cursing herself for being so nosy, but she nodded and gave him a genuine smile. "Alright."

His eyes widened, surprised she would drop the subject so quickly, but he barked out a laugh and accepted her response.

A few moments passed, Sirius' eyes flicking from her half-unpacked bag to the window, while her eyes were trained on him.

"Are you under a spell?" she asked, leaning her elbows on her knees to let him know she was interested in his response. He chuckled out a 'no, why' and she answered as soon as he stopped speaking. "We're getting along." It was her turn to gaze out the window, "I obviously don't mean that we're friends or anything," her laugh was infectious, albeit a bit nervous, "you're just not as annoying." Their eyes met.

"And you're not as much of a bitch."

She hollered a laugh and slapped a hand over her mouth. "I take it back, you're insufferable," she teased, standing and dragging her bag to the closet to finish unpacking.

Sirius cleared his throat and stood up "I'll, uh," he said as he walked to the door, "see you later, I guess." She only waved wordlessly, and he closed the door behind him.

James was in their now-shared room, they had to magic up a bed so their unexpected guest could take Sirius' room, flipping through the album himself. His eyes flickered to Sirius as he closed the door behind him and plopped on the bed, without saying anything. James, sitting on his own bed, was not in the mood for silence.

"Did you tell her?" He asked his friend, his eyes glued on the album in his hands.

Sirius grumbled, and slowly sat up, "Tell her what?" He asked, James sent him a look, so Sirius pulled his hair up in a bun, and let out a long sigh.

"No, why would I tell her, it's none of her business." He crossed his arms, somewhat reminding James of a picture of his younger self, making him roll his eyes.

"You do know your entire problem with her is her house, if you talked to her about it you might see she's not as much of a bitch as you think she is."

"Still a bit of a bitch," Sirius joked, but was met with James' unamused face. "Ugh, when did you become a therapist?" He then stood and slumped his way back to the guest room, James shouting words of encouragement from behind.


	5. Chapter 5

Sirius' fist felt heavy against the door, but he knocked another two times before taking a small step back. After a few restless seconds of waiting for her to open the door, he turned back to his temporary room, only to see James peeking from the door.

"What's happening?" James whispered, his arm mimicking a shrug, so Sirius would understand what he's asking, and he in return whispered back.

"She's not answering." He crossed his arms and leaned agains the wall, looking at James to see what they should do now, his thoughts were soon interrupted by Euphemia shouting for them to come down for dinner.

"Where's (Y/N)?" James piped up from his room, quickly pulling some socks on before heading downstairs, Sirius following him at a more relaxed pace.

"Oh, she helped me set the table, what a dear," his mother swooned, causing her son to roll his eyes, before making her way to the kitchen to finish preparing supper, the boys rushed into the dining room, where the girl in question was just finishing setting the napkins on the table. James reached her first, Sirius staying a few paces away.

James started to ramble, his hair falling in his face and his glasses sitting crooked on his nose, "Oh, Merlin, I'm sorry if mum asked you to help with dinner, I'll tell-"

"Oh, no, I offered," she informed, setting the last napkin on the table and taking a seat. James shook his head and hastily pulled out a chair next to her, and sitting down just moments before his mother emerged from the kitchen, carrying a lovely roast beef, before calling out her husband's name, telling him to come eat.

Sirius, still standing, blinked once, twice and sat down next to James. Fleamont appeared in the doorway a few seconds later, quickly seating himself next to his wife, who, with a flick of her wand, plated the food and served it.

The boys dove in, shovelling food into their mouths as if they hadn't eaten in days, while (Y/N), not particularly keen on embarrassing herself in front of James' parents, ate at a reasonable pace.

"You boys eat like animals!" Euphemia exclaimed and smacked James' hand across the table, "We have a guest," she added, looking at the girl with a sheepish smile, "I'm sorry, dear."

(Y/N) nearly choked on a laugh. "Oh, no worries, I've been looking at them stuff themselves for the past six years," she teased, the boys now laughing at each other, but eating a bit slower nonetheless.

Fleamont chuckled, wiping his mouth and standing up. "I need some time to finish up, then we can leave," he said to his wife, before hurrying out of the room. This gained the boys' attention, they exchanged looks, then James piped up.

"Where you off to?" He mumbled, his mouth full of food.

His mother rolled her eyes, making Sirius cough out a laugh. "We're going to a play," her eyes flicker to (Y/N), her brows furrowing, "I'm sorry, dear, if we'd known you were coming, I would've got you a ticket."

The girl grinned, standing up after wiping her hands. "No problem, Mrs. Potter, I'm sure I'll find something to do to pass the time." She then scooped up all the empty plates and cutlery, and walked to the kitchen. The three of them watched her leave, the boys still chewing their food.

Suddenly, Euphemia jumped from her seat, seemingly having forgot her plans for the night, "I've got to get ready!" Looking at the boys, reminding them to be nice and try to make their guest feel included, before strolling out of the room the same way her husband had moments before.

Sirius looked at James, who was already looking at the doorway to the kitchen, and stood up, taking James' plate, as well as his own, and sauntered into the kitchen, where he saw the girl dutifully scrubbing away the food for the plates. He chuckled, setting the plates aside and taking the wand from his pocket and the dishes were suddenly washing themselves.

She squeaked in surprise and spun around quickly, her own wand at the ready and pointed to Sirius. "What are you doing?!" she shrieked, making the boy jump. "We're not allowed to use magic outside of school!" Her face scrunched in annoyance made him laugh. Sigh. "You could get expelled, you know?" she added. her tone smug, crossing her arms, her irritation seeping through her skin.

After calming down and taking a few lung-fulls of air he spoke, "Oh, (L/N), I'm already 17," _what_. "I can use as much magic as I want." He watched her face as she processed his words, only after letting out a quiet ' _oh_ ,' did he continue, "Thanks for worrying so much, dearie," he mimicked Euphemia's voice, earning an eye-roll.

"I wasn't worried," she insisted, turning back to continue washing up, but was met with a neat pile of clean plates and cutlery. She huffed.

A chuckle made them both turn to see James leaning on the doorway, "Alright, love birds, enough is enough," he teased, earning a flurry of protests from the (involuntarily) blushing pair. After saying goodbye to the adults of the house, James turned to his companions, "What should we do now?" They both remained silent, not really knowing what there is to do.

"I'll, uh," she piped up, "just go to my room, let the food settle a bit." The boys watched her climb up the stairs.

James was the first to speak, "I know what we can do!" Sirius' eyes widened, waiting for James' brilliant idea. "You could talk to her, all this tension is making me nervous." Sirius rolled his eyes and walked upstairs, James right on his heels. "Pads, I'll lock you in the room with her, I swear." _Ha_. That made him chuckle and turn over his shoulder to look at his friend.

"I'm sure you will."

The smile was wiped from his face immediately thereafter, as James grabbed his shirt and shoved him through the door into the spare room, making sure to take the wand stuffed in his pocket and the key from the door, locking it from the outside.

(Y/N), who, throughout this entire ordeal was sat on the bed, having just opened a book to read when she was interrupted, watched as Sirius huffed and puffed at the door, shouting for James to unlock it.

"What's happening, exactly?" The question made him turn, opting to sit in the same chair he had before. "Other than the fact that James is a bellend." He still didn't say anything, but he wasn't seething like she expected him to be.

"He's-" he began but the sound of a pebble hitting the window cut him off. He rushed to open it, "You git!" he shouted, followed by a few choice words for his best friend, and then started to climb out onto the roof. He was pulled back in by a firm tug on the back of his shirt.

"Are you completely insane?!" she exclaimed, pushing him back onto the chair, "The roof is covered with snow, do you want to break a bone?!" He slumped at her scolding, watching as she stomped over to the window to give James a piece of her mind as well. "Now come unlock the door, right now!" She demanded before closing the window, he half expected her to continue shouting, but she was just looking at him, yes, she was a bit angry but mostly she was confused.

"What was the point of this?"

"James is trying to play therapist," he replied with a sigh.

Her eyes were boring into his, he found it hard to look away, but then the door swung open. Both of them watched as James slinked back downstairs. Sirius didn't know what to say, should he apologise for James locking him in, but before he could start his rambling she spoke.

"I knew this was a bad idea," she sighed as she sat back on the bed, "we just don't mix." He noticed her fingers fidgeting. "It's always going to be uncomfortable for one of us," she said as she stood and took a few steps toward the door.

"Ugh," he groaned, "no, it's not-" he grumbled, rubbing his eyes, "it's just-" _breathe in, breathe out_ , "-your house. I have a hard time getting used to this." He dropped his head, waiting for her answer, but it never came, for a moment he thought she'd left the room, but after lifting his eyes he found her standing where she stood before, except now she had a glum look on her face. He didn't need for her to say why, she had figured it out, obviously.

Her foot was nervously tapping against the floor. "I'm sorry," she said, not knowing what else there was to say, but he thought it was enough. He looked at her eyes, which were anxiously flitting from place to place, but the breath he let out made them meet his.

"Thank you."

Over the few remaining days of winter break, James opted to stop interfering after Sirius gave him a few choice words - _It's not your problem to solve._

(Y/N) and Sirius were civil, but it was obvious that their exchange didn't help him open up, it only made the girl more closed off, not wanting to offend Sirius or make him relive any trauma he may have gone through, she still didn't have the full picture.

At first, James wasn't too suspicious about her declining to go for a coffee but after she'd declined his invitations for the third time, he was insistent on getting to the bottom of it.

"What do you think it is?" He asked no one in particular, his feet patting across the floor of his room.

Sirius, who was dressed and ready to go, answered with a groan, "I don't know, can we leave?"

James whipped around to look at his friend with shock painted all over his face. "We can't just leave her here, all alone, that's exactly what Lily didn't want to happen!" Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Merlin, you can't be helped," he muttered before standing from the bed and strolling to the spare room, despite James' pleas to just leave it. His knocks could be heard from their room, where, as expected, James' nosy arse was leaning out of to get a better view. The sound of the handle rattling caught his attention, seeing the source of James' anxiety open the door. Her eyes were wide, well, wider than they ought to have been,seemingly surprised to see him, as the last semblance of conversation they had was after James' little stunt. He was nervous, she could tell and she could also see him trying to not seem as nervous.

"Can I come in?" he asked, waiting for her to open the door wider for him to step inside. She nodded and did just that, and after peered down the hall and caught a certain bespectacled boy rush to close the door to his room before being spotted - not that surprising to see Potter eavesdropping.

"Why don't you want to come with us?" _Straight to the point, I see_ , she thought before sitting on the nearest chair.

"I don't know.." she answered, not appreciating the look she got in return, "I'm not in the mood to go anywhere."

Sirius sighed, obviously growing tense, she only hoped this wouldn't result in a shouting match, as it had many times before. "Do you know why James invited you?" he asked, not waiting for her to answer. "Because _Lily_ ," he emphasised, "didn't want you to be alone and James is ripping his hair out, because you don't want to do anything!" He watched her head drop, noticing the way her shoulders tensed, when he raised his voice at the end of his speech. She clenched her fists and locked eyes with him. _Oh, no._

"I never asked him to invite me, I was _completely_ fine with staying at school, James was the one who offered, not me, and second, I'm sorry, if my attempts to make you feel as comfortable as possible in your own home didn't work!" she returned, standing from the chair and marching to the middle of the room, stopping in front of him. Their noses flared, breathing uneven, they stared at each other with increasingly menacing looks.

"That's not your problem!" he exclaimed, his hands running through his hair, pulling at the strands. She watched him turn, feeling incredibly angry, she hadn't even done anything but it all went to shit anyway.

"I was trying to be decent!"

"I don't want your pity!" He turned back to face her, his eyes blazing. That shut her up. "This is exactly what I was trying to avoid."

She just stood there, opening and closing her mouth like a fish, unable to come up with a response; she had plenty of them, but none of them would help the situation. He waited, watched her mind fry itself trying to respond, but when nothing happened, he just sighed and shoved his hands back in his pockets, and wordlessly left the room.


End file.
